This chapter begins by examining the definition of ‘civil society’. It then employs the sociological notion of civil society, focusing on the changes in the organizational structure of Chinese ...
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This chapter begins by examining the definition of ‘civil society’. It then employs the sociological notion of civil society, focusing on the changes in the organizational structure of Chinese society during the era of economic reform. Next, it investigates the impact of the spread of markets on patterns of social organization and state–society relations during the post-revolutionary period since 1949. The chapter then emphasizes the extent to which the market dynamic of civil society was in evidence during the era of post-Mao economic reforms from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. Moreover, this market hypothesis of civil society is meant to be a hypothesis in the true sense of the word in that one must allow from the outset for the possibility that it may be wholly or partly false or misleading.Less

The Search for Civil Society

Gordon WhiteJude HowellShang Xiaoyuan

Published in print: 1996-08-15

This chapter begins by examining the definition of ‘civil society’. It then employs the sociological notion of civil society, focusing on the changes in the organizational structure of Chinese society during the era of economic reform. Next, it investigates the impact of the spread of markets on patterns of social organization and state–society relations during the post-revolutionary period since 1949. The chapter then emphasizes the extent to which the market dynamic of civil society was in evidence during the era of post-Mao economic reforms from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. Moreover, this market hypothesis of civil society is meant to be a hypothesis in the true sense of the word in that one must allow from the outset for the possibility that it may be wholly or partly false or misleading.

The past two centuries have witnessed tremendous upheavals in every aspect of Chinese culture and society. At the level of everyday life, some of the most remarkable transformations have occurred in ...
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The past two centuries have witnessed tremendous upheavals in every aspect of Chinese culture and society. At the level of everyday life, some of the most remarkable transformations have occurred in the realm of gender. This book is a mix of illuminating historical and ethnographic studies of gender from the 1700s to the present. The chapters are organized in pairs that alternate in focus between femininity and masculinity, between subjects traditionally associated with feminism (such as family life) and those rarely considered from a gendered point of view (like banditry). The chapters provide a wealth of interesting detail on such varied topics as court cases involving widows and homosexuals; ideal spouses of early-twentieth-century radicals; changing images of prostitutes; the masculinity of qigong masters; sexuality in the era of reform; and the eroticization of minorities.Less

Chinese Femininities/Chinese Masculinities : A Reader

Published in print: 2002-01-07

The past two centuries have witnessed tremendous upheavals in every aspect of Chinese culture and society. At the level of everyday life, some of the most remarkable transformations have occurred in the realm of gender. This book is a mix of illuminating historical and ethnographic studies of gender from the 1700s to the present. The chapters are organized in pairs that alternate in focus between femininity and masculinity, between subjects traditionally associated with feminism (such as family life) and those rarely considered from a gendered point of view (like banditry). The chapters provide a wealth of interesting detail on such varied topics as court cases involving widows and homosexuals; ideal spouses of early-twentieth-century radicals; changing images of prostitutes; the masculinity of qigong masters; sexuality in the era of reform; and the eroticization of minorities.

Based on a comparative perspective, this chapter contrasts China’s practice of the death penalty with capital punishment in the Chinese past, with the practice of other Chinese societies (i.e., Hong ...
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Based on a comparative perspective, this chapter contrasts China’s practice of the death penalty with capital punishment in the Chinese past, with the practice of other Chinese societies (i.e., Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore), and with the practice of other communist nations (i.e., Vietnam, North Korea). Such comparisons highlight distinctive features of China’s practice and unique challenges for the abolition of China’s death penalty, as well as some potentials for accomplishing such a mission.Less

Chinese Capital Punishment in Comparative Perspective

David T. JohnsonMichelle Miao

Published in print: 2015-12-01

Based on a comparative perspective, this chapter contrasts China’s practice of the death penalty with capital punishment in the Chinese past, with the practice of other Chinese societies (i.e., Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore), and with the practice of other communist nations (i.e., Vietnam, North Korea). Such comparisons highlight distinctive features of China’s practice and unique challenges for the abolition of China’s death penalty, as well as some potentials for accomplishing such a mission.

The story of Wuhan in 1938 has two dimensions—the military and the social—that are of crucial importance to the history of modern China. Due to a lack of a comprehensive military history of the ...
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The story of Wuhan in 1938 has two dimensions—the military and the social—that are of crucial importance to the history of modern China. Due to a lack of a comprehensive military history of the Anti-Japanese War, this chapter aims to reconstruct the hard facts of the military defense of Wuhan and the central Yangzi before discussing social and cultural matters in depth. This interrelationship is the key to understanding why Wuhan did not suffer the panic and chaos that engulfed Nanjing and Jinan when these cities were under siege by the Japanese in late 1937. The Wuhan period suggests that the Anti-Japanese War brought changes to Chinese society, culture, and politics analogous to those that occurred after World War I in Europe.Less

Prologue

STEPHEN R. MacKINNON

Published in print: 2008-05-21

The story of Wuhan in 1938 has two dimensions—the military and the social—that are of crucial importance to the history of modern China. Due to a lack of a comprehensive military history of the Anti-Japanese War, this chapter aims to reconstruct the hard facts of the military defense of Wuhan and the central Yangzi before discussing social and cultural matters in depth. This interrelationship is the key to understanding why Wuhan did not suffer the panic and chaos that engulfed Nanjing and Jinan when these cities were under siege by the Japanese in late 1937. The Wuhan period suggests that the Anti-Japanese War brought changes to Chinese society, culture, and politics analogous to those that occurred after World War I in Europe.

This chapter looks at the structure underlying attitudes to imperial marriage and the political role of the emperor's wife in the native Chinese and non-Han state. The first section begins by ...
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This chapter looks at the structure underlying attitudes to imperial marriage and the political role of the emperor's wife in the native Chinese and non-Han state. The first section begins by establishing the principles behind events commonly encountered in the historical narrative of the native state from Han times through to the end of the Ming dynasty (206 b.c.–a.d. 1644). It shows that some conditions previously thought to be unique to one particular period (and thus probably the result of foreign influence or externally derived ideas) are easily explained without reference to the non-Han state. The second section demonstrates the variety and political ingenuity of marriage systems designed by the leaders of the conquest dynasties. The final section discusses how an analysis of the non-Han condition throws new light on the question of continuity and change in Chinese society, and then summarizes the political status of different sets of imperial kin in each of the systems described.Less

Imperial Marriage in the Native Chinese and Non-Han State, Han to Ming

Jennifer Holmgren

Published in print: 1991-04-02

This chapter looks at the structure underlying attitudes to imperial marriage and the political role of the emperor's wife in the native Chinese and non-Han state. The first section begins by establishing the principles behind events commonly encountered in the historical narrative of the native state from Han times through to the end of the Ming dynasty (206 b.c.–a.d. 1644). It shows that some conditions previously thought to be unique to one particular period (and thus probably the result of foreign influence or externally derived ideas) are easily explained without reference to the non-Han state. The second section demonstrates the variety and political ingenuity of marriage systems designed by the leaders of the conquest dynasties. The final section discusses how an analysis of the non-Han condition throws new light on the question of continuity and change in Chinese society, and then summarizes the political status of different sets of imperial kin in each of the systems described.

This chapter details China's communist experiment with human nature. The idea of a new man, a morally perfect person, served as a model for Chinese society and became embedded in the Chinese culture. ...
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This chapter details China's communist experiment with human nature. The idea of a new man, a morally perfect person, served as a model for Chinese society and became embedded in the Chinese culture. The concepts of human malleability and the role of social environment in shaping human nature were not alien to Chinese history either. However, they became part of the discourse of nationalist ideology in the early twentieth century; indeed, in the second half of the century, they became a prime target of the Chinese communist revolution, as Mao Zedong aspired to surpass the Soviet Union in both economic and ideological terms. The idea of new men—or “Mao's good soldiers”—was created to perpetuate the revolution and generate an economic miracle, born from the absolute selflessness and dedication of such new men.Less

“Be Mao’s Good Soldiers” : Creating the New Man in China

Yinghong Cheng

Published in print: 2008-12-31

This chapter details China's communist experiment with human nature. The idea of a new man, a morally perfect person, served as a model for Chinese society and became embedded in the Chinese culture. The concepts of human malleability and the role of social environment in shaping human nature were not alien to Chinese history either. However, they became part of the discourse of nationalist ideology in the early twentieth century; indeed, in the second half of the century, they became a prime target of the Chinese communist revolution, as Mao Zedong aspired to surpass the Soviet Union in both economic and ideological terms. The idea of new men—or “Mao's good soldiers”—was created to perpetuate the revolution and generate an economic miracle, born from the absolute selflessness and dedication of such new men.

This multi-layered history of a horrific famine that took place in late-nineteenth-century China focuses on cultural responses to trauma. The massive drought/famine that killed at least ten million ...
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This multi-layered history of a horrific famine that took place in late-nineteenth-century China focuses on cultural responses to trauma. The massive drought/famine that killed at least ten million people in north China during the late 1870s remains one of China's most severe disasters and provides a vivid window through which to study the social side of a nation's tragedy. This book's approach explores an array of new source materials, including songs, poems, stele inscriptions, folklore, and oral accounts of the famine from Shanxi Province, its epicenter. It juxtaposes these narratives with central government, treaty-port, and foreign debates over the meaning of the events and shows how the famine, which occurred during a period of deepening national crisis, elicited widely divergent reactions from different levels of Chinese society.Less

Kathryn Edgerton-Tarpley

Published in print: 2008-02-04

This multi-layered history of a horrific famine that took place in late-nineteenth-century China focuses on cultural responses to trauma. The massive drought/famine that killed at least ten million people in north China during the late 1870s remains one of China's most severe disasters and provides a vivid window through which to study the social side of a nation's tragedy. This book's approach explores an array of new source materials, including songs, poems, stele inscriptions, folklore, and oral accounts of the famine from Shanxi Province, its epicenter. It juxtaposes these narratives with central government, treaty-port, and foreign debates over the meaning of the events and shows how the famine, which occurred during a period of deepening national crisis, elicited widely divergent reactions from different levels of Chinese society.

This chapter explores the representation of the city-countryside antithesis in the development of Chinese society in general, and Chinese cinema in particular, in pre- and post-1949 years. It also ...
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This chapter explores the representation of the city-countryside antithesis in the development of Chinese society in general, and Chinese cinema in particular, in pre- and post-1949 years. It also examines the social changes and the transformation and expansion of Chinese urban spaces in the 1980s. These transformations created greater opportunities for filmmakers to handle the city representation with considerable openness and subjectivity and helped turn the urban scene into a “channel” through which a new generation of screen heroes air their frustrated and rebellious views.Less

Re-forming China

Zhou Xuelin

Published in print: 2007-09-01

This chapter explores the representation of the city-countryside antithesis in the development of Chinese society in general, and Chinese cinema in particular, in pre- and post-1949 years. It also examines the social changes and the transformation and expansion of Chinese urban spaces in the 1980s. These transformations created greater opportunities for filmmakers to handle the city representation with considerable openness and subjectivity and helped turn the urban scene into a “channel” through which a new generation of screen heroes air their frustrated and rebellious views.

Demon warrior puppets, sword-wielding Taoist priests, spirit mediums lacerating their bodies with spikes and blades—these are among the most dramatic images in Chinese religion. Usually linked to the ...
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Demon warrior puppets, sword-wielding Taoist priests, spirit mediums lacerating their bodies with spikes and blades—these are among the most dramatic images in Chinese religion. Usually linked to the propitiation of plague gods and the worship of popular military deities, such ritual practices have an obvious but previously unexamined kinship with the traditional Chinese martial arts. The long and durable history of martial arts iconography and ritual in Chinese religion suggests something far deeper than mere historical coincidence. This book argues that martial arts gestures and movements are so deeply embedded in the ritual repertoire in part because they iconify masculine qualities of violence, aggressivity, and physical prowess, the implicit core of Chinese patriliny and patriarchy. At the same time, for actors and audience alike, martial arts gestures evoke the mythos of the jianghu, a shadowy, often violent realm of vagabonds, outlaws, and masters of martial and magic arts. Through the direct bodily practice of martial arts movement and creative rendering of jianghu narratives, martial ritual practitioners are able to identify and represent themselves, however briefly and incompletely, as men of prowess, a reward otherwise denied those confined to the lower limits of this deeply patriarchal society. The book offers a thorough and original account of violent ritual and ritual violence in Chinese religion and society. Close-up, sensitive portrayals and the voices of ritual actors themselves—mostly working-class men, many of them members of sworn brotherhoods and gangs—convincingly link martial ritual practice to the lives and desires of men on the margins of Chinese society.Less

Avron Boretz

Published in print: 2010-10-31

Demon warrior puppets, sword-wielding Taoist priests, spirit mediums lacerating their bodies with spikes and blades—these are among the most dramatic images in Chinese religion. Usually linked to the propitiation of plague gods and the worship of popular military deities, such ritual practices have an obvious but previously unexamined kinship with the traditional Chinese martial arts. The long and durable history of martial arts iconography and ritual in Chinese religion suggests something far deeper than mere historical coincidence. This book argues that martial arts gestures and movements are so deeply embedded in the ritual repertoire in part because they iconify masculine qualities of violence, aggressivity, and physical prowess, the implicit core of Chinese patriliny and patriarchy. At the same time, for actors and audience alike, martial arts gestures evoke the mythos of the jianghu, a shadowy, often violent realm of vagabonds, outlaws, and masters of martial and magic arts. Through the direct bodily practice of martial arts movement and creative rendering of jianghu narratives, martial ritual practitioners are able to identify and represent themselves, however briefly and incompletely, as men of prowess, a reward otherwise denied those confined to the lower limits of this deeply patriarchal society. The book offers a thorough and original account of violent ritual and ritual violence in Chinese religion and society. Close-up, sensitive portrayals and the voices of ritual actors themselves—mostly working-class men, many of them members of sworn brotherhoods and gangs—convincingly link martial ritual practice to the lives and desires of men on the margins of Chinese society.

This chapter is concerned specifically with the relation between marriage and gender inequality. While most of the contributors to this book have either touched on, or directly considered, this ...
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This chapter is concerned specifically with the relation between marriage and gender inequality. While most of the contributors to this book have either touched on, or directly considered, this theme, it attempts to integrate these contributions with earlier work and, in the process, suggest questions for the further study of gender and marriage in Chinese society.Less

Afterword: Marriage and Gender Inequality

Rubie S. Watson

Published in print: 1991-04-02

This chapter is concerned specifically with the relation between marriage and gender inequality. While most of the contributors to this book have either touched on, or directly considered, this theme, it attempts to integrate these contributions with earlier work and, in the process, suggest questions for the further study of gender and marriage in Chinese society.